Adrienne Harper
Adrienne Jo Harper (nee Flynn, previously Anders, Morrison and Farrington) is a character on the long running series Harpers Falls. She was originally played by actress Sharon Gabet, best known for her roles of the mischievous and many-times married Raven Alexander Jamison Swift Whitney Devereaux Whitney on Edge of Night, and as Dorian Lord's neurotic sister, Melinda Cramer on One Life to Live. However, when Sharon retired, actress Maree Cheatham, who had played various roles on HF over the years (most notably creating the role of Victoria Jensen) was tapped to play the role, and she does so presently. Her humorous portrayal of Adrienne, has made her into a comic relief role, a role she shares with her on-screen partner, Samantha Bond. The Political connection for the Harper family Born in Albany, New York, Adrienne Flynn grew up as a daughter of wealth. Her family was powerful in local and state politics in New York (at one point, her dad was the mayor of Albany and later a state senator for New York, and her mother was a council person in the nearby township of Niskayuna), and she herself was involved with politics from an early age. She also has a younger (by three years) sister, named Kylie, who also has taken to politics and now is the Press Secretary for the City of Boston. Adrienne was always interested in the issues of the day. So, it was no surprise that Adrienne took political science when she began college at Syracuse University, where she excelled and was head of the Student Council. She's really well-learned in the issues of the day, and her debating skills, which she gained in high school and polished in college, serves her well, even to this day. Later, after her graduation, she moved to Washington, D.C. and she began working as a political consultant. She thrived in the political air of the National Capital. She met her first husband, William Anders, a powerful politico that she met at a Senate Committee Hearing. They fell in love and married in 1974. William was Adrienne's first love and they were happily married until he died of a heart ailment in 1980. In 1981, she met her second husband, Wade Morrison, a Senate aide. Because he was a member of the opposite party, at first they clashed, but they began to compromise. They were married four years later; and Wade and she were happy. However, Wade was revealed to have had terminal pancreatic cancer, and no operation could help bring the cancer under control. He died in 1995, after almost ten years of happiness. Adrienne then met her third husband, Michael Farrington, a wealthy former city councilman from Boston. Due to Michael's connections, she moved to Boston from Washington. Adrienne and Michael were married in Boston in 1998 and were married for eight years, until Michael died of leukemia. Adrienne had never been more alone after Michael's death. Even with William and Wade's deaths, she had been prepared for it, but Michael's strain of Leukemia was quite lethal, and even when it happened, Adrienne thought that it would not be that fatal. Later on, Adrienne, now widowed, and wealthy due to her wise investing of her late husbands' estates, took a new job as a political consultant working with the Boston City Council, where her late Michael had been one of the youngest council members. She works presently with Marla Stanton, the person who had been tapped to serve the unexpired term of Michael. At first, she was saddened that someone had taken over Michael's seat so quickly, but when she saw it was Marla, a person she had known for many years, and had worked together on several high profile political functions both in Boston, and her former homes in Smythewood, Pennsylvania, and in Washington itself, she threw herself into helping the malaprop-ridden, but highly savvy political veteran to become one of the best City Councilpersons in Boston. Adrienne also has begun to date, tentatively, for the first time since Michael's death in 2006. She remembered her old friend, Ralph Atchison, from her days at Syracuse, and they had been seeing one another. Ralph remembered his old friend and they were commonly seen on occasion in the commons, until his untimely death. Meanwhile, romance, unexpectedly has returned into Adrienne's life. She became smitten with Veronica Harper, while they were chairing a committe to reelect Marla, and the two women began to date and later have fallen in love. And taking a chance (given her fear of losing spouses), she and Veronica married. They share their lives together and couldn't be happier. When it comes to society functions, Veronica and Adrienne are always there to represent the Harpers, to the discomfort and disdain of Veronica's sister, Erica. However, the tough minded Adrienne put the snobby Erica in her place. Upon hearing about her sister's marriage to Veronica, Kylie is thrilled to now be a part of the Harper family. Adrienne gets a real surprise when her nephew, Jay is seen in town. His uncle was her second husband, Wade Morrison, and she, Kylie and Veronica have a great relationship with Jay. Veronica and Adrienne have become the more prominent faces of the Harpers and their charitable efforts. Adrienne throws herself into those events with such relish and her remarkable sense of humor comes to play a lot of the time. She has also gained a reputation as another family comedy relief. Category:Characters Category:Harper family Category:Characters married into the Harper family Category:Other relatives of the Harper family Category:Comic relief characters